1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to location-based services and, more particularly, to a method and system for providing an indication of location, so as to facilitate operation of such services.
2. Description of Related Art
Recent growth in telecommunications has ushered in a new era of convenience and productivity. One of the results of this growth, and particularly the growth of wireless communications, has been an increased demand for location-based services.
Examples of such services include mapping, navigation (directions), and weather and traffic reporting. For instance, given the location of a user, a location-based-service provider can invoke a mapping routine in order to provide the user with a map of the user's geographical area. As another example, given a user's current location and a destination location, a location-based-service provider can invoke a navigation routine in order to provide the user with directions to travel from the current location to the destination location. Further, the location-based-service provider can invoke a weather reporting routine so as to provide the user with a weather report for the destination location.
In some cases, when a user contacts a location-based-service provider from a communication terminal, it is possible for the service provider to determine the user's location by determining the location of the communication terminal. This has long been the case with landline terminals, such as telephones, which are associated with fixed addresses. More recently, this has also become possible with mobile terminals, such as cellular telephones for instance.
However, in many cases, a user may wish to designate a particular location, so as to allow the service provider to perform a location-based service with respect to the location. This may be the case, for instance, if the user wants to invoke a location-based service with respect to a location other than the user's current location, or if the service provider is otherwise unable to determine the location.
A need therefore exists for a mechanism of communicating a location to a service provider, so as to allow the service provider to perform a service based on that location.